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1x1 was not exactly having a good time.
It had barely escaped from the vault in one piece, currently armed with only the sword previously imprisoning it. Now the question stood: where to go? After some deliberation, it had decided that the Korbloxian wilderness would likely be its best bet. At the very least, it could hide out in the rarely traversed snowlands while it regained its strength. At best, an alliance with one of the Korblox tribes was in order.
By now, though, it had been wandering for who knows how long, completely and utterly lost. At this point it was just hoping it would accidentally run into something.
Although– there, in the corner of its eye, a flicker of movement. Two Robloxians wearing near-identical pale blue uniforms making their way over a shallow hill to its left. They seemed to notice it at around the same time it noticed them.
“Who goes there?” one of them called.
“A peaceful traveler,” it responded, “in search of your leader.” It raised its hands to show they were empty.
The pair continued towards it before abruptly stopping and conversing heatedly for a moment, voices carefully lowered enough that it couldn’t hear. After their discussion, the soldier who had originally spoken flicked open their comm panel and sent a message to one of the contacts. Both of them watched for the reply, and the other one called out to it after receiving a response.
“Lord Azurewrath will speak with you. Follow me.”
With that, she turned and departed, forcing it to jog to catch up.
It trudged through the snowy landscape behind her for what felt like hours, the only interruption in the blank fields of white being a massive dark shape on the horizon they were headed towards. As they drew closer, the shape resolved itself into a massive castle of sparkling ice that nearly took its breath away, surrounded by a town that looked puny in comparison.
The town was... certainly an experience. Noisy, crowded, generally unpleasant. After progressing through many streets where it almost lost sight of its guide, it was led to the castle gates. Another round of what sounded like arguing broke out between the soldier that had brought it here and the guards already stationed there, but eventually the gate guards relented and let them in.
She wove expertly through the various rooms and corridors, only slowing down once they arrived at what it assumed was their destination: a pair of huge, richly ornamented doors.
“Hey! Open up!” the soldier called to no apparent audience.
Slowly, the great doors swung open, revealing a vast throne room. Two guards flanked the central dais, their uniforms more elaborate than any it had seen thus far. The weapons hanging at their waists differed from the standard swords common among Robloxia, longer and wider with a strangely shaped crossguard.
A figure in ornate frost-blue armor, presumably Azurewrath, was perched on the throne. Despite the helmet obscuring most of his face, his violet eyes shone through, and it could feel the disdain in his gaze.
Once they were standing before the throne, the soldier hissed at it to kneel, a command it followed before she began speaking.
“My lord, this–”
“–is 1x1x1x1, I can see that,” he interjected. The soldier stumbled over her words for a second, then continued.
“It claims it comes in peace.”
“Hm. It is not often a myth proves itself by showing up in my court,” he mused. “What brings you here?” The last words were directed at it rather than the guard.
It hesitated, wanting to choose its words carefully.
“I come in search of an alliance. The admins have ruled for long enough. I can help you bring them down.” A bit of a risky play, since it didn’t really know his motives, but what person on good terms with the admins would choose to live out here?
The silence hung while he examined it. It really wished it could see more of his face. Eventually his gaze landed on the sword resting at its back, which seemed to determine his judgement.
“A duel in the courtyard. One hour. To first contact.” He paused, considering, and then added, “I will be your opponent.” The final words sent a ripple of whispers through the room. Azurewrath waited for them to die down before continuing.
“If you win, you may stay within these halls. If you lose... that is to be determined. Exile would be the most gentle outcome.”
He gestured dismissively for it to leave, and it solemnly exited the throne room, following the soldier that had brought it here.
That... could have gone worse. Sure, it also could have gone better, but at least it had a chance.
As they walked, it examined the soldier in an attempt to not get lost in its own thoughts. She appeared to be Korbloxian, though was she an exile or a go-between? The vast majority of the other guards it passed were of similar origin, the variety and distribution of tribe markings making it believe the former was true.
Once arriving, the soldier cleared her throat.
“I would love to stay and watch, but I have my own duties to attend to. I trust you’ll be able to handle yourself?”
It nodded, and she departed, leaving it relatively alone. Not unsupervised, however, as the few guards already stationed in the courtyard watched it like a hawk.
It wasn’t really sure what to do with the time given. Warmups went by quickly, and it spent the better part of the hour trying to get used to the feel of the Daemonshank in its hands. It had never really gotten a chance to properly wield the thing; in its opinion, its battle after being freed didn’t count, as it had been outnumbered and outgeared to the point that it could barely touch its opponents.
What it wouldn’t give to have the Kernel Panic Katana again...
As it practiced, it noticed guards and what looked like a few citizens filtering in and out of the courtyard. Many disappeared shortly after getting a good look at it; based on Azurewrath’s words earlier, there were doubts on whether it was real or not, and they were likely verifying for themselves. As time passed, more and more stayed, wanting to watch the fight.
After an eternity of waiting, a few of the uniformed guards made their presence known, followed shortly by their lord. An air of excitement fluttered through the crowd as he stepped into the empty space, facing 1x1.
Azurewrath held out a hand, and one of his guards passed their blade to him. It was the same shade of blue as his armor, fading to a paler white at the tip. The last ice-based weapon it had come in contact with had nearly ended it in one hit, so it wasn’t exactly excited to see what this one could do.
The guard who’d given up their sword stepped into the gap between the two of them, a sense of nervousness still hanging around them. Despite that, their face stayed perfectly neutral and their voice was loud and clear, ringing through the crisp air.
“The fight will continue until one side makes contact with something other than their opponent’s sword. Do not use any of your weapon’s alternative abilities, this is a show of skill, not firepower.” Truth be told, that rule was a blessing in disguise. It wasn’t sure what the Daemonshank could do, and it wasn’t about to find out mid-fight. It mostly tuned out the rest of their spiel until their final callout.
“Begin!”
The guard scurried into the throng of watchers after the last word fell, both fighters bracing for the other’s next action.
Azurewrath was the first to make a move, 1x1 just barely blocking his strike. It dodged below his next attack, taking the opportunity to make a swing of its own, which was parried and very nearly led into its defeat had it not reacted as quickly as it did. They continued nearly blow for blow, though its opponent’s more aggressive style forced it to play more defensively than it would have liked.
There was a lull in the action as they broke up to circle, both waiting for the other to do something. It became aware of the crowd’s excited chatter, having reached a pitch higher than anything earlier.
Predictably, Azurewrath attempted to engage again, but this time his sword flickered through the break in the Daemonshank’s integrity, throwing him off balance. It lunged, and–
A sudden metallic scraping noise met its swing, a sound unlike the previously heard crashing of blade on blade.
Azurewrath drew back, examining his breastplate, and it reciprocated the distance. Though it had done little more than scratch his armor, that would hopefully be enough to satisfy the rules.
He stared at it for a long second, and it worried he would require blood to be drawn, but eventually the intensity of his gaze lessened and he tossed his weapon to the ground between them.
“Good enough.”
He waited for it to sheathe its own sword before continuing.
“Come with me.”
A few of the spectating guards moved to follow them, but he waved them off. Azurewrath led it down a long hallway, dozens of doors littering the walls.
“Walk next to me,” he said in a much less commanding tone than earlier, beckoning it forwards. Hesitantly, it fell into step with him.
“I presume you were searching for the Tribes and ran astray of a patrol.” It nodded in confirmation, wanting to return a question of its own but unsure if that would be appropriate.
“Nobody from Robloxia seeks this out,” he added absentmindedly, and then, noticing its hesitation, “You may speak.”
“...What exactly is this place?” it asked.
“This is my domain,” he answered helpfully. “Any warrior who bests their opponent may take their rightful place among my ranks. The rest freeze in the wastelands.”
They continued in silence until coming to a door that Azurewrath stopped at. Pushing the door open revealed a simply furnished room.
“You may stay here,” he said, gesturing into the room. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. For now, I would recommend getting some rest.”
It stepped in and thanked him, waiting for the door to shut to set the Daemonshank aside and flop onto the bed.
Blox, it was exhausted.
It was more out of shape than it had thought, and Azurewrath was wickedly fast. That trick with the sword’s gap was more luck than anything, and had the fight gone on much longer it likely would have given out.
Staring up at the ceiling, its mind began to wander, the weight of unanswered questions hanging heavy above it. There was nobody to ask them to, however, and it eventually drifted off to a dreamless sleep.